The Senatorial Legate returned Sachiko’s gracious words with another nod and a bow of her own - one that, Karael noted with a trace of amusement, would have probably thrown Barachiel and the rest of those elderly anti-Yamatai followers of his into apoplectic fits with the amount of respect and gratitude it demonstrated towards a representative of the “enemy” - then patiently waited for her counterparts to voice their opinions.
The representative of the Iromakuanhe seemingly pondered the matter for a moment then opted to remain silent, which made logical sense given the nature of the Astral Commonwealth’s effectively self-sufficient economy and the Iromakuanhe's
history with the Star Empire; similarly, the Nepleslian Premier's reply was understandable - for even the slightest amount of control over the sprawling mess that was the Imperium's private sector would undoubtedly benefit the Nepleslian government immensely. The pause that then followed implied that none of the other delegates in attendance were willing to contest Yamatai's stance on the manner - expected, given the latter's economic and martial dominance of the Celestial Sector - or were reserving their opposition for a more private venue; regardless of the reason, however, the room was silent for a moment too long - thus Yamatai's elven representative proceeded to go ahead and propose a treaty.
Karael read the treaty quite carefully, the document's simple terms a refreshing break from the nearly-incomprehensible walls of legalese that were most Elysian laws - and she, similar to Kohaku, also found the terms to be a bit...lacking. Although she concurred - mentally, not visibly, of course - with the first and third points her Hidden Sun Clan counterpart raised, the Elysian disagreed believe that operating with one's home currency would hinder international trade in any fashion; after all, every nation in the Celestial Sector accepted each other's currency, except in the case of the over-glorified and ludicrously over-inflated welfare coupon known as the ArcMark. The Elysian was about to voice her views...
...then was denied the chance by the obviously-uncertain voice emanating from the youthful delegate seated adjacent to her. Fortunately for the speaker, the tranquil atmosphere of the International Relations Conference was a far cry from the rancorous halls of the Elysian Senate, where someone with his uncertainty would have been practically laughed out the door by someone like that demon Barachiel; unfortunately for the speaker, however, his uncertain tone lent little of the weight his words so desperately needed, as evidenced when another demon (albeit one Karael respected, tolerated, perhaps even
accomodated) promptly tore him to shreds.
It wasn't that the Patrician found fault in what the USO representative was saying, as were she in his place she would have said the same exact thing; rather, it was that, well, she also agreed with what the Taisho (more accurately,
the Taisho) was saying - and with the weight of a full-scale war looming upon the horizon alongside Elysia's rapidly-growing domestic crises, Karael knew which side her proverbial bread was buttered on. The more the Senator thought about it, in fact, the more she found herself in agreement with Yui, as abhorrent as the thought would've been a few decades prior, given that the rumors that Karael had heard from a certain Elysian CEO had indicated that the Star Organization was displaying signs of economic aggressiveness, political instability, military aggressiveness, economic instability, and general hostility towards the Star Empire as a whole, as respectively evidenced by the fraudulently-valued ArcMark, the apparent mass desertion by military forces, the growing signs of conflict occurring between the forces of USO and other independent nations, the collapse of their banking system that had occurred earlier in the year, and the brazen attempt at publicly arresting a serving member of the Star Army while on a peaceful fact-finding mission.
All in all, Uso's Star Organization was appearing to be little more than a dangerously-unstable rogue state with an economy on the brink of failure, a military with little to no faith in its political superiors, and a foreign policy of aggression toward its neighbors, thus it was logically something that - in addition to the the Kuvexian-aligned merchants, private military corporations, illegal alien salvagers, and colony ships full of highly-reproductive poverty-stricken bug-men - posed a threat to the safety of the security of the Elysian Celestial Empire and the Celestial Sector as a whole.
The unknown USO representative's petulant response to Yui's harsh yet logical proposals (which, Karael noted, attacked the Taisho's points instead of actually addressing them) only served to reinforce the Elysian's beliefs, and, as the first representative spoke (Alen, was it?), caused her to feel a pang of sympathy (and a not-insignificant amount of respect) for him, given that his body language, reluctant
sigh, and overall tone suggested that he had probably drawn the same conclusions as the Patrician - and it took a considerable amount of courage to stare down what was arguably the most powerful individual in the Celestial Sector.
Regardless, though, Queen Vas'Sumera raised a valid point - and, more importantly, provided an opening for the calmly-featured Patrician to finally get a word in. "We of the Elysian Celestial Empire concur with the first and third points our esteemed compatriots representing the Poku Saeruo Degonjo raised, however, we politely disagree with the second point. With the exception of the dubiously-valued welfare voucher known as the "ArcMark," all of the currencies employed by the factions represented here today are universally accepted throughout the Kikyo Sector - thus we see no purpose in requiring corporations to conduct international transactions with foreign currency. We furthermore agree wholeheartedly with the policies Taisho Yui has proposed and will recommend their adoption by the Celestial Empire; lastly, we are of the same mind as Queen Vas'Sumera: if the representatives of this 'Uso's Star Organization' cannot supply the evidence requested of them, then we propose that we return to discussing the treaty Representative Sachiko has graciously proposed."
